Derek Alone
by pheobe p
Summary: Ten glimpses of Derek with tension / romance / angst / and a happy ending. One shot for the shuffle challenge!


**Thanks for the tags bsloths and Cattdog!**

OMG! -- that was so hard to do! You know – I never realized how many songs on my IPOD are actually songs you all mentioned in fan fics or made vids out of until I did this challenge! There are like at least three songs that I KNOW I added after reading LWD fan fics. I hope you all like it!

I don't know who to tag or who is left?

Temple Trees

MaybeBaby27

Moirariordan

Vengeful

**If you get tagged, you have to write a short fic about ten random songs. Put your IPOD or library on shuffle, and get ready to write to whatever song comes up. Sounds pretty easy, but here's the thing; you only have until the end of the song to finish the drabble, and then it's onto the next one.**

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1. "God's Love," Bad Religion.

He pushed open the door to his little brother's room – his little brother's former room – it was overflowing with labeled boxes, pink fuzzy things and piles of clothing. These were girl things unlike any the house had seen before. Derek lifted a lacy pale yellow bra from the bed. Big girl things…

He was still fuming at his father's hasty marriage – he'd only met Nora once. And, while he liked her just fine, he didn't feel like his father had a …right…to just thrust her and her family on them so suddenly. He scowled – there wasn't much he could do about the situation except make damn sure that his feelings were known. This was _his_ house and Nora and the two new girls were going to get that message loud and clear. There would be no welcome committee from Derek Venturi.

When he turned to leave he caught sight of a picture already propped up on the dresser. It was Nora standing between two girls. The daughters…his _step-sisters_…

The smaller one reminded him a little of Marti and it caused a little twist of guilt in his stomach. And the other one…

_Oh Crap_. She was gorgeous. Jeez…_what a body_… what had they told him her name was? Casandra? _My new totally hot sister…Cassandra_.

Another flare of irritation warmed him. His dad was going to pay for this…

Someone was going to pay…

2. "The Shining," Badly Drawn Boy

He hadn't been in her room alone since that first day they had moved boxes over. But her stuff had been mixed with Lizzie's stuff and mostly in boxes. She was insanely neat and clean… so the effect was completely different than that first time.

Derek took a deep breath. It smelled good in here – it smelled like _her_. He had to concentrate though because he only had about ten or fifteen minutes until Nora got home with the younger kids. Casey had gone to Emily's after-school to study. She was insanely studious and responsible. He didn't hang out with people like her. She was a…brain. _Loser. _

If she wasn't right here in his face every day he wouldn't even think about her. He'd never known someone so eager and unashamedly …humiliating themselves in every way.

First she falls down a flight of stairs and draws all kinds of negative attention to herself but then she has to be such a …geek about it. She would have made a stupid speech in the middle of the hallway for god's sake! And now this BabeRaider thing. He opened her closet.

The smell of her was stronger in here – it smelled like flowers…and …frosting. _Awesome._ He closed his eyes and breathed in again.

_Stay focused!_

In the corner of her closet was the white wicker hamper she used. He opened the little cushioned lid and peeked inside. The Babe Raider outfit was on top. Folded! She was insanely…insane…like that. He pulled the short skirt and cropped top out and crumpled them in a ball. He was going to jam them as far down into the can outside as he could. She WOULD NOT be wearing that again.

3. "Hate Me," Blue October

He woke up on the bathroom floor, face pressed against the cold porcelain of the toilet. His shirt still reeked of beer and it nearly made him heave again.

What had he _done_ last night? Had to much to drink –that much was obvious to him – but he couldn't remember much past raising the play-off trophy over his head after having guzzled the beer out of it. Their parents were out of town and Casey had okay'd him having the team over after. She had felt sorry that both his dad and mom had blown him off – he could tell. She'd taken Edwin, Lizzie and Marti to watch him, then kept watch over all three at the rink and afterwards …when the party got completely out of hand.

Derek groaned and pushed himself up. He yanked his t-shirt over his head and tossed it as far away as he could. Someone had placed a glass of water and a little pile of asprin on the floor beside him. _Casey._

It should have made him thankful but instead he felt guilty. He could hear the vacuum purring on the floor below. Casey's voice was bossing around the younger kids – _she was making them clean_. Yep – this was guilt. He slumped against the bathroom wall. Sometimes he hated himself.

4. "I've Been Eating (For You)," Bright Eyes

Derek had three codes he kept for himself when it came to his relationship with Casey and the -- in his opinion unfortunate – fact of their co-existence a J Sparrow Thompson. The codes were mostly so he could sleep at night. She had saved him too many times, at school, at home… but still managed to make such a wreck of her own life…

He'd first tried to just "let things go" but the _guilt_…this was why he needed the code.

He would not have her mistreated.

He would not have her laughed at – (not without his permission).

He would not have her harassed. (And this last code of his was the reason he'd been forced to kick Max's ass after school today.)

Derek had gotten in the first shot because he knew it might be the only one he really made – Max was a big guy. His friends were even bigger. He'd stood over Max after splitting his lip. "She doesn't want to get back together. Leave her alone." Max looked up at him, shocked. Out of his peripheral vision Derek saw Ryan throw his books to the ground and lunge towards him. He figured he had another 20 seconds to make his point. He dove onto Max and got in one more hard punch. "Lay off her, Max," Derek hissed, even as Ryan yanked him up by his collar and landed a thundering punch of his own to Derek's chest. He ended up with a cracked rib, which wasn't so bad. Hell he would be able to play hockey again a couple weeks.

His step-sister was pacing angrily in her room, slamming things around. She was pissed off at him. "It was none of your business!" she had screamed when she had come to the hospital to pick him up.

Derek turned carefully in his bed. Casey was making a racket in there but he had a feeling he would be sleeping well tonight.

5. "The Chemicals Between Us", Bush

He slammed open the door to his room and threw himself onto his bed. But he was too keyed up. He stood up again and started pacing. _What the hell was his problem?_ He had to pick up Sally in twenty minutes to take her to her brother's wedding and he hadn't even showered yet.

Well, he'd been a little… _busy_.

He could hear her pacing around her own room despite all the racket that kids and his parents were making on the floor underneath him. They'd pulled apart the minute they heard the car pull up.

_What the hell had he been thinking?_ He rubbed at his face with his hands. They'd been watching a movie, both of them just lounging around on a Saturday morning – enjoying some peace and quiet without the whole house being full. His arm had gone around her shoulders without his realizing it. Her head had slumped against his chest without her seeming to notice. Why did it feel so …_right_…so _good_?

He really cared about Sally. She was dating Noel. Their mouths were moving against each other before he had time to consider either of those conditions. Casey felt amazing. He couldn't quit touching her. He ran his hands under her shirt and into her pants. She pressed herself against him. He wanted her. He'd wanted her for a long, long time.

Derek heard something shatter against the wall that they shared.

Nora's voice called up the stairs, "Casey?"

"It was nothing, Mom."

Derek felt the heat all over his body. _Nothing? !_ Did she mean that for him? What happened was definitely _something._ He stared at his door…contemplating.

"Screw it…" he growled and stormed through it towards Casey's room.

6. "Pain," Jimmy Eat World

He lit a cigarette and leaned against the bathroom door. Derek wasn't really a smoker but he needed something to do with his hands. The bride was throwing her bouquet so he'd gotten a few minutes free of Sally. Her oldest brother, the groom, had already passed out underneath the gift table. Sally's mom kept filling Derek's champagne glass and Sally's dad was telling dirty jokes…

Derek should have been having a great time. He wanted to be having a great time.

But he wasn't.

Derek flicked ash into the sink and squinted his eyes at his reflection. This was one big goddamn mess as far as he was concerned. _He_ was a mess. He finally was in a relationship with a girl he liked and he couldn't get his mind off of his nagging, up-tight, pain-in-the-ass step-sister. Derek banged his head against the bathroom wall, liked the brief respite pain gave from his thoughts of Casey. So he did it again, harder. Why couldn't he just _leave her alone_? Why couldn't she just leave _him_ alone?

Sally called his name from the hallway outside and he dropped the cigarette and stomped on it.

"Coming…" he yelled back to her. He banged his head against the wall one more time. That last time made him see stars for moment…but then his vision cleared and his mind went right back to Casey.

7. "Just Friends" Gavin DeGraw

Because he had nearly always made the schedule, there hadn't been many nights that Derek had closed down Smelly Nelly's. It depressed him to be at the restaurant late at night. The freezer and refrigerator made loud clunking noises that sort of unnerved him. He didn't like that anyone could see into the windows when it was dark while he couldn't see outside. He didn't like to be counting the money by himself.

Sally had left with Patrick at around ten. That had been awkward. Not only did Sally hate him since he had ended things with her but Patrick obviously wanted to kick his ass for dating her in the first place.

Derek zipped the deposit bag closed and slumped into a chair. He was nursing a chocolate milkshake that Pablo had made him earlier. It was melted and barely cold but still creamy and ridiculously chocolaty.

Casey had been in earlier – with Max of course.

The two of them getting back together had really taken him by surprise. He'd made the decision to break things off with Sally and he'd thought…well, hell…he'd expected…

He thought about the two of them giving in to that make-out session on the couch, and then in her room. And, finally, he remembered the look on her face when he told her he needed to "sort things out with Sally". He'd asked her to wait – _or had he really? _

Too late now.

_Unless she changed her mind._ God, he hoped she'd change her mind. He'd still take her. No matter what he had said to her earlier – while she cuddled with Max. ..he'd still take her.

8. "In My Place," Coldplay

He was in the wrong place. His phone was dead. Derek slumped to the ground in the dark. He was exhausted.

Nora had sent him to pick up Casey at the dance studio but the place looked closed. No cars in the lot and no Casey. Okay so she must be taking classes at a new place and he hadn't kept up. It bothered him. More than it should. He liked to know everything about her–even the things that hurt.

"I need to find a phone." He stood back up. He'd been working too much and trying to bring his grades up at the same time. He hadn't been eating or sleeping that well. Everything spun for a second.

He trudged back towards the Prince and threw his dead phone in the seat beside him.

She wasn't even speaking to him anymore. Because he'd slept with Emily. They were drunk – it was no big deal for either of them really. And if he was honest with himself, he would admit that he had only done it because he knew that Emily would crack and tell her everything. He was angry. She was with Max again and he _loved_ her!

_He'd wanted her to hurt. _

But this not talking thing… Derek ran a hand through his hair. He heaved a tremulous breath. He had screwed up.

9. "Across the Universe," Fiona Apple

The sky was a clear blue for the first time in weeks – the snow in the front yard glistened like crystal and was just as hard to get a shovel through. He was going to be really sore by the time he had created enough of a path to get the cars down the driveway. Marti poked her head out the front, "Smerek! Daddy wants to know how soon you'll be done!"

Derek rolled his eyes. "Tell him to get his old ass out here and help me!"

He could hear Marti yell, "Derek said ass!" just before the door closed. He looked up at the house with a smirk and caught a curtain twitch at Casey's window. She'd been watching him.

Seemed like he was catching her at that a lot.

And she was talking to him again.

And she and Max had split up for good. Max had tried like hell to get her back only to decide he didn't really like her "real self" in favor of the cheerleader Stepford wife he'd hoped she would switch back to.

Derek didn't blame the guy – Casey's "real self" was neurotic, stuck-up, bossy, geeky…just a general pain in the ass . No guy could deal with her crap for long.

_Except me_, he thought to himself. _I know how to manage her._ He was in no hurry. .. with the snow…with anything.

10. "Here With Me," Dido

He had two more boxes to load and then he was done. Derek stretched and looked around his step-sisters pink walled room. The posters were all down and the room didn't smell like her lotions and powders anymore. It made him a little sad…which was strange because he could remember a time when he hadn't wanted her in his house in the first place.

Derek scratched at his head, a little embarrassed with himself. That had been a completely different version of himself. An angry, selfish version. He'd had no one but himself to rely on. No one he would _let inside_.

Outside a horn honked jolting him from his thoughts. He hoisted a box into his arms. "Hey Edwin, grab this last one for me! Casey's about to blow a blood vessel or something!" He heard his brother trudge tiredly up the stairs.

Their parents weren't all that happy about the two of them moving in together so soon and had voiced their protest by not helping at all. But Lizzie and Edwin had more than made up for it.

The horn honked again and Derek rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to seriously lose it on that woman one day!" he growled.

"Casey!" he yelled at her from the window. "I am loading the damn U-Haul as fast as I can! Maybe if you didn't insist on bringing every book you own with you to Toronto, it wouldn't take so long!" And besides that …he had to start hockey practice the next day after dragging her boxes out of her room and into their new place…their new place on the third floor of a walk-up apartment! "Edwin!"

"I got it!" his brother came into the room and grabbed the last box. "You are buying Lizzie and me dinner in Toronto, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah…" Derek grumbled.

"And not making us sick with being all kissy in the restaurant?"

"No one will know we're step-sibs…" Derek started.

"I will! Lizzie will!"

Derek gave a playful slap to his brother's head, "You guys don't count," he said and followed Edwin out of Casey's old room.

_Le fin!_


End file.
